Kevin Lowe; Just Following The Rules
Posted 1:21 PM ET | Comments 6
Since Kevin Lowe offered RFA, Dustin Penner, the 5 year/21.25 Million Dollar Offer-Sheet there has been outrage by both the NHL and us hockey fans. I have on question for all of you, why?
Lets a look at some sections of the CBA:
Any player who meets the
qualifications set forth in the following chart
and (1) is not a Group I Player or a Group IV Player,
and (2) is not an Unrestricted Free Agent, shall be deemed to be
a "Group II Player" and shall, at the expiration of his Player
Contract, become a Restricted Free Agent. Any such player shall
be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with
any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and
sign a Player Contract with any such player, subject to the
provisions set forth in this Section. As used in this Section
10.2,"Age," including "First Contract Signing Age" means a
player's age on September 15 of the calendar year in which he
signs a Player Contract regardless of his actual age on the date
he signs such Player Contract.
First Contract Signing Age Eligible for Group II Free
Agency
18 - 21 3 years professional experience
22 - 23 2 years professional experience
24 or older 1 year professional experience
What that proves is that Kevin Lowe never broke any rules sending Dustin Penner the offer sheet, if it was so bad then why did the GM's agree to it when the CBA was under construction?
Let's take a look at the breakdown of the contract:
Year 1: 4.25 Million
Year 2: 4.25 Million
Year 3: 4.25 Million
Year 4: 4.25 Million
Year 5: 4.25 Million
I can understand why Brian Burke may be angry, it is probably because if he matches the offer sheet than that turns Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf into 5 million dollar players. The Oiler organization has a choice of how much money they pay their players, they chose 4.25 million for Dustin Penner, that is called agressive general-managing. We should be praising the skills of Kevin Lowe because he knew that the Ducks were pressed up against the cap, so he over-payed because he knew Brian Burke couldn't match. He didn't send Zach Parise an offer sheet because the Devils had enough cap space to match any offer sheet that the Oilers would have thrown at them. So Penner seemed like the logical choice.
So to all of you Kevin Lowe bashers, you guys need to stop with the bashing. He is just following the rules set by the CBA and nothing else, its not like the Ducks aren't getting anything in return. They are getting 3 draft picks (Edmonton's 1st, 2nd, 3rd round picks) in return, which are sure to be high picks in each round because Edmonton won't finish high in the rankings. So here are my words to Brian Burke: "Suck It Up!"
Lets a look at some sections of the CBA:
Any player who meets the
qualifications set forth in the following chart
and (1) is not a Group I Player or a Group IV Player,
and (2) is not an Unrestricted Free Agent, shall be deemed to be
a "Group II Player" and shall, at the expiration of his Player
Contract, become a Restricted Free Agent. Any such player shall
be completely free to negotiate and sign a Player Contract with
any Club, and any Club shall be completely free to negotiate and
sign a Player Contract with any such player, subject to the
provisions set forth in this Section. As used in this Section
10.2,"Age," including "First Contract Signing Age" means a
player's age on September 15 of the calendar year in which he
signs a Player Contract regardless of his actual age on the date
he signs such Player Contract.
First Contract Signing Age Eligible for Group II Free
Agency
18 - 21 3 years professional experience
22 - 23 2 years professional experience
24 or older 1 year professional experience
What that proves is that Kevin Lowe never broke any rules sending Dustin Penner the offer sheet, if it was so bad then why did the GM's agree to it when the CBA was under construction?
Let's take a look at the breakdown of the contract:
Year 1: 4.25 Million
Year 2: 4.25 Million
Year 3: 4.25 Million
Year 4: 4.25 Million
Year 5: 4.25 Million
I can understand why Brian Burke may be angry, it is probably because if he matches the offer sheet than that turns Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf into 5 million dollar players. The Oiler organization has a choice of how much money they pay their players, they chose 4.25 million for Dustin Penner, that is called agressive general-managing. We should be praising the skills of Kevin Lowe because he knew that the Ducks were pressed up against the cap, so he over-payed because he knew Brian Burke couldn't match. He didn't send Zach Parise an offer sheet because the Devils had enough cap space to match any offer sheet that the Oilers would have thrown at them. So Penner seemed like the logical choice.
So to all of you Kevin Lowe bashers, you guys need to stop with the bashing. He is just following the rules set by the CBA and nothing else, its not like the Ducks aren't getting anything in return. They are getting 3 draft picks (Edmonton's 1st, 2nd, 3rd round picks) in return, which are sure to be high picks in each round because Edmonton won't finish high in the rankings. So here are my words to Brian Burke: "Suck It Up!"
Not trying to stir up controversy, but you make the point that he didn't offer Parise a contract because the Devils had the cap space to match. Can you then explain why he sent an offer to Vanek knowing Buffalo had more than enough cap space to sign him, as well as knowing that Buffalo would have no choice after losing out on Drury and Briere? Not a disagreement of any of your points, simply a question I'd like your input on. Thanks.
I guess because they tried to show that they wouldn't be afraid to go after a team's top RFA's and to stir up the pot known as the NHL offseason.
Let's not act like this is about Kevin Lowe, and everyone that disagrees with him is a "Kevin Lowe basher". NHL fans have been "outraged" by offer sheets long before Dustin Penner signed with Edmonton. I seem to recall quite a bit of controversy last year when the Flyers signed Ryan Kesler to an offer sheet. Or even ten years ago when the Avalanche had to match the offer sheet Sakic signed with the Rangers.
The reason the Oilers went after Vanek in my opinion is that he was the best player available. It's unfortunate that the Sabres are the team that got affected by the big number, but in the end Lowe, and Oiler management thought that Vanek is a superstar in the making in the NHL. There are very few 40 goal scorers in the league and they hoped that inspite of the losses of Briere, Drury and the creation of loads of cap-room because of this that 7 million per year would be "impossible" for the Sabres to match.Obviously this wasn't the case so I'd have to think that this was a misstep by Oiler management.
Lowe is a desperate loser trying to hang on to his job. I actually haven't heard anyone accuse him of doing anything "wrong"/illegal. Just of being a desperate buffoon driving up the salaries of exactly the players who don't deserve that much. So, Leafer, all your drivel about rule breaking is pointless and a waste of time. Have some reason to defend...and you still don't know why people think Lowe is a buffoon? But then, you probably think the leafs are a playoff team -- delusional!
No one's saying Lowe broke any rules........he's just an idiot that grossly over paid a player and set an inflated scale for 20 goal scorers.........that's what his career average will be at best!Along with that, he lost the respect of all most every GM and owner in the league which can't be good for his team in the long term.I thought the last work stoppage was about cost certainty, and parity without the crap............